[🇧🇩] Civilian/Military Nuclear Program in Bangladesh

[Saif]

Pakistan clearance delay pushes Russia’s Rooppur fuel delivery into October

A uranium fuel shipment for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been delayed after Pakistan did not grant permission for the flight carrying it to use its airspace. The shipment was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on Sept 24 to refuel the plant’s first unit. Science and Technology Ministe

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Pakistan clearance delay pushes Russia’s Rooppur fuel delivery into October

A uranium fuel shipment for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been delayed after Pakistan did not grant permission for the flight carrying it to use its airspace.

The shipment was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on Sept 24 to refuel the plant’s first unit.

Science and Technology Minister Faqir Mahbub Anam said on Monday, “Pakistan did not provide the clearance. The route involves several countries -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and then India, reports bdnews24.com.

“Since clearance from Pakistan was given previously, they will grant it again. Perhaps there was a gap or oversight, and they didn't issue it. [It] will come through.

“They have rescheduled it and informed me that [Russia's state nuclear agency, Rosatom] will bring it during the first week of October. In the meantime, they will carry out their necessary work.”

The minister said it was Rosatom’s responsibility to deliver the uranium and that minor delays could occur.

Earlier, he told Indian news agency ANI that the exact reason Pakistan had not granted the airspace clearance was unknown.

Kabir Hossain, director of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant construction project, said: “The fuel for Unit 1 will need to be replaced after one year. That refers to the reload scheduled a year later. For that, 48 fuel assemblies were to arrive on two flights, one scheduled for [Sept 24] and another for Oct 1.”

The initial fuel load for Unit 2 was scheduled to arrive on seven weekly flights starting Oct 8, he said.

Kabir said Rosatom informed them around 9pm on Sept 23 that the flight had been postponed because it had not secured clearance from all countries on the route.

Under the revised schedule, the flights will begin on Oct 1, pushing the timeline back by a week, Kobir said.

The delay came as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Imran Haider paid a courtesy call on State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir on Monday.

About the airspace issue, Humaiun said it was not discussed in the meeting, describing it as his first courtesy meeting with the high commissioner.

He also urged everyone to “not get worried” about obtaining permission to use Pakistan’s airspace.​

 

[Saif]

Uranium for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant arrives in Dhaka from Russia

Shipment comes after September 24 delivery was postponed over lack of airspace clearance

www.thedailystar.net

Uranium for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant arrives in Dhaka from Russia

Shipment comes after September 24 delivery was postponed over lack of airspace clearance

Our Correspondent, Pabna

Photo courtesy: Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project

The first cargo plane carrying nuclear fuel for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant arrived in Dhaka from Russia on Friday night under international security guidelines.

The flight reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 11:44pm, after which unloading began, a senior official of the power plant told The Daily Star.

“After completing the unloading, the nuclear fuel will be transported to the project site in Rooppur under special security arrangements by the Bangladesh Army,” said the official.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Golam Mahbub, chief of administration of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, said a total of nine flights would deliver more than 200 assembled fuel elements, including 163 assemblies for Unit-2, by December.

“This is the first flight carrying the uranium,” he said.

Meanwhile, police said they had been instructed to ensure security on the highway during the transportation of the nuclear fuel to the Rooppur project site.

“We have been asked to make preparations so that the nuclear fuel can be transported smoothly to the project site,” said Md Mahbubur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Hatikumrul Highway Police Station.

“When the uranium convoy crosses the highway, a lane will be kept clear for its safe movement,” the highway police OC said.

Earlier, the first batch of nuclear fuel for Unit-2 was postponed on September 24 due to a lack of airspace clearance.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/power-energy/421266/additional-uranium-for-rooppur-s-first-unit

Uranium consignment reaches Rooppur nuclear power plant amid tight security

48 fuel assemblies for Unit 1 and 163 for Unit 2 expected in November-December; Unit 1 may supply 300MW to the grid

Photo: BSS

BSSBSS

Additional uranium fuel for the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant reached the project site on Saturday under tight security provided by the Army, Special Response Battalion (SRB) and police.

The convoy carrying the fuel arrived at the Rooppur project at around 12:20pm after travelling by road from Dhaka through Dashuria Mor in Ishwardi.

Project sources confirmed the arrival.

The fuel had reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 11:44pm on Friday, where officials of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority received the shipment. Transportation to Rooppur began later that night under Army security.

Sources said three trucks carrying the uranium left the airport after 7am Saturday and travelled towards Rooppur via the Jamuna Bridge. Security was tightened in Ishwardi and Rooppur ahead of the shipment's arrival.

Project sources said 48 additional uranium fuel assemblies for the first unit and 163 for the second unit are expected to arrive in Bangladesh on nine flights during November-December.

Earlier, fuel brought for the first unit in 2023 was loaded into the reactor in May this year.

Dr Zaedul Hasan, managing director of Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Limited, said testing of the first unit's 16-megapascal high-pressure pressure-operated relief valve had been completed successfully.

During the test, the functionality of the control valves was verified, followed by checks of the main safety valve's response, opening and closing operations, alarms and related process parameters, he said.

Ishwardi Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Pranab Kumar said the uranium shipment reached Rooppur safely under strict security provided by the Army, SRB and police.

If preparations proceed as planned, the first unit is expected to supply 300 megawatts, or around 30 percent of the plant's total electricity generation capacity, to the national grid during November-December.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/317188/rooppurs-first-unit-gets-clearance-to-start-nuclear-fission

Rooppur’s first unit gets clearance to start nuclear fission
Unit-1 is expected to generate 300MW by Dec

Staff Correspondent . Dhaka

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant | File photo

The first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Ishwardi, Pabna, has received final clearance from the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority on Thursday to begin the controlled nuclear fission reaction, a key step towards commissioning the 1,200MW reactor.

‘The clearance will allow the reactor to reach the B2 stage where it would be brought to first criticality,’ Construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project focal point Saikat Ahmed told New Age.

Here, first criticality means the start of a controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction that produces heat for electricity generation.

The first unit is expected to initially generate 300MW of power as test production by December and it may continue for six to seven months, project sources said.

Before getting the BAERA nod for nuclear fission, the unit cleared a couple of high-pressure tests of its Pressure Operating Relief Valve including 18 megapascals and 16 megapascals test.

Earlier this week, a convoy carrying uranium arrived at the Rooppur plant under a tight security cordon. RNPP officials informed New Age that the convoy reached the site at about 12:20pm on October 3.

Multiple sources indicated that a total of nine consignments of nuclear fuel would be brought into the country.

Of these, seven are intended for the second unit, currently under construction, and two are for the refueling of the first unit.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom in a statement on September 28 said, the delivery of nuclear fuel was scheduled to begin in October and continue through December.

The fuel will be shipped in several flights, in accordance with the contract terms and the project schedule, it added.

Under the plant’s fuel supply plan, nine cargo flights are scheduled to transport an additional 48 uranium assemblies for the first unit and 163 assemblies for the second unit to Bangladesh by December.

Worth over $12 billion, the country’s first nuclear power project has been implemented by the science and technology ministry with technical and financial assistance from Russia.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/316946/rooppur-nuclear-power-plant-draws-both-hope-worry-for-bangladesh

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant draws both hope, worry for Bangladesh
Agence France-Presse . Pabna, Bangladesh

his photograph taken on September 24, 2026 shows a general view of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant at Ishwardi in Bangladesh’s Pabna district. | AFP photo.


Bangladesh is preparing to switch on its first nuclear power plant, a long-delayed project promising relief from chronic electricity shortages — even as some fear living beside it.

The 2.4-gigawatt Rooppur nuclear plant, a $13-billion project more than a decade in the making, has transformed the once sleepy nearby village of the same name, bringing Russian workers, new businesses and jobs.

Once fully operational, its two reactors are expected to supply more than 10 per cent of electricity demand in the South Asian nation of 170 million people, which has been hit hard by the fuel crisis sparked by the conflict in the Middle East.

For Md Zahedul Hasan, managing director of state-owned Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh, the giant complex represents the culmination of a decades-old ambition to bring nuclear power to the country.

The plant’s first reactor is scheduled to be turned on by the end of this year, and the second unit ‘will be operational within a year’, Hasan said at the site on the banks of the Padma River, 150 kilometres west of Dhaka.

Bangladesh’s power sector is dominated by fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, with coal, oil and renewables making up the rest.

The project, built with Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has also brought an unlikely Russian enclave to rural Bangladesh.

Thousands of Russian workers have spent years building and installing equipment, with a residential complex, shops and restaurants springing up around them.

Shop signs appear in Bangla, English and Russian, while some restaurants serve borscht soup alongside local dishes.

Alexander Vladimirovich Skvortsov, a Russian installation technician, said he had a choice between working in Turkey or Bangladesh. He chose Rooppur, moving there with his family in 2024.

‘When I first saw the construction site at Rooppur, I realised how much work lay ahead on this project. Honestly, Rooppur changed me and my life,’ he told AFP.

The project has also transformed the local economy.

Md Emon Khan, 28, left his garment-factory job in Dhaka and returned to Rooppur, where he now sells vegetables and fruit to workers.

‘I can speak a bit of Russian, and they can speak Bangla, too,’ he said.

Plant officials say stringent safety measures have been followed and lessons from previous nuclear accidents were incorporated into the project.

Standing near a radiation monitoring tower and an alarm post, 15-year-old Mohammad Nafiz said he saw little to fear.

‘We are glad that Rooppur is known to the world, and my friends and I hope that we will work at the plant after graduating from engineering schools,’ he added.

Not everyone shares that confidence.

Md Yunus Ali, 80, whose home is a 15-minute walk from the plant, said opposition to building a nuclear facility in the densely populated area dates back decades.

‘A few days ago, they ran a compressor test with a big bang. Even the children who were asleep woke up in fear,’ said Ali, a retired paper mill worker.

‘I am old now, and I am not afraid for my life. But, I have children and grandchildren, and I want safety for them.’

The ambition to build a nuclear power plant at Rooppur dates back to the 1960s.

Several attempts came after independence, including approaches to Saudi Arabia and France, and talks with China and South Korea. No deals were materialised.

Bangladesh finally signed an agreement with Moscow in 2015, with the Russian state offering a loan covering about 90 per cent of the project’s original cost.

The project has since faced delays, including disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic and sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, which complicated equipment deliveries and payments.

There have also been corruption allegations surrounding the project, including against ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and members of her family. They have rejected the accusations.

For most Bangladeshis, however, the biggest question is when Rooppur will finally deliver reliable electricity.

Belly Begum, a 55-year-old farmer, struggles to irrigate her land during frequent power cuts.

‘I wish the Rooppur nuclear power plant goes into operation soon, and we reap the full benefit,’ she said.

‘I hope we will get electricity for 24 hours without interruption, as the plant is near my house.’​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/power-energy/317275/rosatom-vows-early-grid-connection-of-rooppurs-first-unit

Rosatom vows early grid connection of Rooppur’s first unit
Staff Correspondent

Press Release Photo

Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom has assured Bangladesh that electricity from the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will be connected to the national grid on a trial basis as soon as possible.

Rosatom director general Alexey Likhachev gave the assurance at a meeting with science and technology minister Faqir Mahbub Anam in Moscow on Friday, according to a press release issued by the ministry.

The meeting discussed the overall progress of the country’s first nuclear power project and the timeline for starting electricity generation from its first unit, equipped with a VVER-1200 reactor.

Likhachev said the project would play an important role in ensuring Bangladesh’s energy security by supplying affordable and environment-friendly energy. He also said commissioning and initial start-up activities for the plant’s second unit would begin next year.

Faqir Mahbub Anam said the 2,400-megawatt power plant would meet about 11 per cent of the country’s total electricity demand.

The two sides also discussed expanding Bangladesh’s nuclear energy sector and strengthening bilateral cooperation by building on the experience gained through the Rooppur project.

On Thursday, the first unit received final approval from the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority to begin a controlled nuclear fission reaction, a key step towards commissioning the 1,200-megawatt reactor.

Before receiving the approval, the unit passed high-pressure tests of its pressure-operated relief valve, including tests at 18 and 16 megapascals.

Fuel loading in the first unit began on April 28 and was completed on May 12.

In a statement on September 28, Rosatom said the delivery of nuclear fuel for the plant’s second unit was scheduled to begin in October and continue through December.

Under the plant’s fuel supply plan, nine cargo flights are scheduled to transport an additional 48 uranium fuel assemblies for the first unit and 163 for the second unit to Bangladesh by December.​